


A Month of Love

by AsagaoSylph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Cute, Injured Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Knits, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Red Paladin Lance (Voltron), Secret Admirer, Singing, Singing Lance (Voltron), Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23153644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagaoSylph/pseuds/AsagaoSylph
Summary: Keith wrinkled his nose, but set the note down gingerly on his bedside and, slowly, untied Ruby from his bed. “If you try and attack me, I won’t hesitate to skewer you,” he threatened.Then he tucked the soft teddy bear against his chest, kicked off his boots, curled up on his bed, and was out before he could think to turn off the lights.
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 165





	A Month of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: This is an AU where Lance convinced Keith to stay with Voltron instead of joining the Blades, leaving Keith to resume his role as the Black Paladin due to Shiro refusing the role, and Lance continuing to fly the Red Lion. Shiro is learning to pilot the Castle of Lions from Allura.

Keith found the first letter after nearly decapitating a teddy bear.

Look, in his defense, it was midnight when he left the training deck for some much-needed sleep, and all he could see in the pitch black room was an alien-shaped lump staring straight at him on the bed. The dim light of the hallway was sucked into the jeweled eyes, and bright blue flashed at Keith as he drew the door open, so _of course_ his response was to pounce on the invader and shove his knife under the thing’s chin.

“How did you get into the Castle?” He snarled, pinning a strangely squishy arm under one hand. “What are you doing here?”

After about another ten dobashes of Keith’s fruitless interrogation, he tied the invader to the bedpost with his pillowcase and dashed to the light switch, wrenching it up and spinning with his knife raised. A red teddy bear stared back at him, immaculately sewn, utterly unimpressed with the glittering black knife pointed at her, and holding a tiny note in her left paw.

Keith didn’t know if this should reassure him or doubly terrify him.

He crept closer, knife still extended as a warning, and snatched the note from the tiny grey claws. With one eye, he scanned the handwriting; the other eye remained fixed on the potential threat tied to his bed. Come to think of it, should he have woken the others up?

_Dear Keith,  
The Sith passed their power on to another,  
And now give her to one of their own,  
Such was it,  
That Ruby the bear was born!_

“.......So, are you about to electrocute me?” Asked Keith, poking at the bear’s pudgy cheek suspiciously.

Then he noticed, in smaller print on the back of the note, another string of writing.

_No, seriously, she’s yours dude, don’t throw her away! I have four weeks left to pamper you, so sit back and prepare for more gifts!  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend._

Keith wrinkled his nose, but set the note down gingerly on his bedside and, slowly, untied Ruby from his bed. “If you try and attack me, I won’t hesitate to skewer you,” he threatened.

Then he tucked the soft teddy bear against his chest, kicked off his boots, curled up on his bed, and was out before he could think to turn off the lights.

The second letter was found much more peacefully. Low bar. Keith had selected a book from the library that Lance and Allura teamed up to translate a few phoebs ago, and was snuggled into the corner of a vast window overlooking space. It was the sweetest story he had read in decaphoebs, reminding him of the freshly melted hot chocolate Adam used to make for Shiro, Keith, and himself when the snow trapped (ha!) them in his apartment overnight, and his eyes were starting to lull shut. The very air was soft, as if respecting the rare peace that had stolen over the Black Paladin, and Keith knew he should go back to his room to sleep, but he was _comfy_.

As he flipped the page, eyes half-closed by this point, a soft _swish_ filled the room and a bookmark slid down to bump against his pale fingers. Keith blinked, sleepy brain firing back to life at the sight of an attached note. He snatched the paper from the folds of the book and unfolded it so jerkily that he almost tore the thin letter. Spiny, precise handwriting greeted him again.

_Dear Keith,  
Surprise, surprise!  
So that you never feel you have to go it solo,  
Here is something you can take with you,  
Meet your very own hippo!  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend._

Keith snorted, folding the letter up and tucking it in his pocket as he studied the bookmark. It was cut from some sort of flexible, strong material that he couldn’t even remotely see because it was covered with a grey cloth. Embroidered trails of red flowers wound down from a hanging wall to float in a deep blue lake below, a single one dropping petals as it fluttered away on the wind. A black ribbon ran through a hole at the top, and when Keith let it run over his fingers, he finally saw where the hippo came into this whole thing. For, at the very end of the ribbon, a tiny felt hippo beamed up at him.

Keith smiled, tucking the bookmark in between his pages, and stretched leisurely before standing and moving towards his room. Well, that confirmed his suspicions. Shiro was the only one who knew he loved hippos, of course it was him leaving this stuff laying around for the teen. Keith would be sure to thank him in the morning.

“Huh? A handmade bookmark?” Was Shiro’s only reply. “Keith, I can’t sew to save my life, why would you think that was me?”

Keith spluttered, pulling out the thin bookmark from his pocket and thrusting it at the older man.

“Well, who else on this ship knows that I like hippos?!”

“Uhhhhhhh, everyone?” Suggested Shiro, taking a long sip of his space coffee.

Keith stared absolute daggers through the man.

_“Why?”_

“I might have let it slip when you were having a bad day and the others were worried about you?” Admitted Shiro with a chuckle. “Pidge spent over an hour trying to create a digital replication of a hippo, and Hunk made those hippo-shaped kurelis, remember?”

“Yeah,” replied Keith, a smile spreading over his lips. “I remember.”

“Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, someone’s leaving gifts for you, huh?” Asked Shiro, eyebrows waggling, and Keith smacked his arm with a laugh.

“Shove it!”

“That would be neglecting my responsibility as an older brother,” teased Shiro, ruffling Keith’s hair despite his complaints, and noting how Keith automatically slipped the bookmark back into his pocket.

A gentle smile pulled up at his lips.

“I’m happy for you, Keith.”

The fifth letter came after possibly one of the worst missions in Voltron history. What was supposed to be a standard liberation mission turned on its head and started doing somersaults the moment they landed on the planet. Keith and Lance, quickly identified as the main leaders, were captured by the locals and sent to be sacrificed to their god in order to sanctify their attack against the Galra. Lance had joked that at least Keith’s mullet would finally be gone, but the moment a guard prepared to take the Black Paladin to the execution stone, his right hand man sprang into action. Lance used the lightning cuffs binding him to his advantage, cartwheeling across the ground and slamming his chains into Keith’s captors, frying them into unconscious lumps of fur. Lance flashed a toothy smile at Keith, but the older boy barely had a second to react before a rod struck Lance in the back of the head, wrenching a scream of pain from his throat as blue lightning arced through his body.

Keith’s hair stood on end, and he threw himself at the enemy just as Allura, Pidge, and Hunk caught up to them. After what felt like a varga of frenzied fighting, the team had managed to retreat to their lions, but Lance was unconscious and bleeding badly, Pidge had gotten a nasty hit to her side, and the Yellow Lion was creaking with each movement. They had stuck the injured paladins in a healing pod, argued amongst themselves for vargas about whether these aliens were ones they wanted to include in the Coalition, and Keith had finally walked out when he almost started screaming at Shiro. These aliens had tried to sacrifice him and Lance; for some reason, he wasn’t that keen on trying to negotiate with them again.

Keith growled, kicking at the ground and shoving his hands in his pockets. Pidge would probably be up in a half varga, but Lance was stuck there for a while because of the internal damage he had sustained. It made Keith’s insides twist into pretzels, and he gripped the bookmark he had gotten a few days ago like it could reverse time. Because, god, if it could, he never would have set foot on that planet. Lance had smiled so widely before he was knocked out, eyes glowing with unshakable trust and kindness, his honey-soft voice saying Keith’s name one more time…..one last time…….

Keith’s growl morphed into a snarl, and his feet carried him straight to the training room, lava bubbling through his veins.

“Commence Training Sequence 10!” He snapped, forming his bayard and shifting into a guarded stance as the gladiators sprang up from the ground.

The robots stared blankly at him, white limbs usually like metal lightning now unmoving, and a chill shot down Keith’s spine as he remembered what had happened last time a gladiator acted weird…….

One of the robots creaked forwards, movements jerky as it reached up into its metal armor and removed a folded white letter. Keith remained in his stance, but his mouth dropped slightly as the gladiator bent over and placed the letter on the ground. Then, as one, the line of robots fell back through the floor, giving choppy, three-stage waves as they vanished.

Keith sighed, shaking his head with a slight smile as he bent down to pick up the slightly smudged paper. He was starting to accept that whoever this person was, they had a scarily good idea of where Keith was going to be at what times. Heck, the last note had been in Black when he was cleaning out their cockpit, accompanied by a fresh bouquet of fuzzy red flowers from the last planet Voltron had liberated. Clearly whoever this was knew Keith’s habits really well.

Keith unfurled the letter, hoping its contents might distract him from the soft hum that always filled the castle when the healing pods were at work. As he straightened the thin parchment, a sharp _CLINK_ turned into a series of rattles as something slid from the paper onto the ground. Keith’s eyes darted between the silver chain on the ground and the curled black words stretching across the paper, and settled on smoothing out the creases of the letter before reading it.

_Dear Keith,  
To attach to that knife you carry with you everywhere,  
And help fill the training room with roars,  
Here’s something to remind you,  
You always have a home to call yours.  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend._

Keith’s teeth latched onto his bottom lip, gaze fixed on the last line even as his vision blurred and his knees caved beneath him, leaving him to topple to the training room floor as that last line replayed in his head. Whoever this was knew him better than just his schedule and habits.

Blindly, Keith fumbled for the chain that had fallen, and when he brought it up to eye level, the world froze around him. Because dangling on the silver metal links was a brightly colored, tiny pendant version of Voltron.

He never attached that to his knife.

When Keith returned to the meeting room half a varga later to welcome Pidge back, he had red-rimmed eyes, a soft, warm smile, and a silver chain around his neck.

By the time the eighth letter appeared next to his nutrient water during a training break, Keith wasn’t even fazed anymore. He flipped the paper open, reaching out just in time to catch the falling pink tube enclosed in the parchment. Still, he read the poem first, like he always did.

_Dear Keith,  
It may smell a little like roses,  
But your hands have looked kind of dry,  
So I’m giving you this,  
Along with a hair tie.  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend._

Keith laughed quietly, turning over the hand lotion to study the Altean label with a fond smile. So _that’s_ who was giving him all this stuff. Of course it was Allura! He had thought that Ruby’s eyes looked like the gems on her necklace, and someone had probably told her something that accidentally made her think this was just part of traditional Earth friendships. He’d thank her once they finished this training exercise.

“Oh! No, Keith, this was not from me!” Said Allura, laughing softly as Keith stared in bewilderment at the princess. “I _did_ recommend this to the one who gave it to you, but the lotion was hi—their idea.”

“But—what—I mean—why—who?!” Stuttered Keith, the Voltron necklace shifting gently against his collarbone. “Who’s doing all this for me? And why?”

Allura’s smile stretched somehow wider, and she patted his shoulder fondly.

“Someone who cares a great deal about you. We all want you to be happy, Keith. But this person…….” she trailed off, searching for the right words as her crystal-blue eyes shone lovingly. “They want to be the one to make you happy.”

Keith lay flat on his back, staring up at his ceiling as if doing so would force it to open up and rain the truth down on him. _They want to be the one to make you happy._ Allura’s words had stuck with him through the past few quintants, bouncing like a ping-pong ball around inside his head. _The one_. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d imagined someone would say that to him. That someone wanted to make him happy. Of course he knew Shiro wanted him to be happy, but that was different from what Allura was saying. The _one_ to make him happy. Keith already knew who that was for him.

A knock rattled his door, heavy and slow, and Keith cocked his head warily to the side, hand going to his knife. He didn’t know that knock.

“Come in,” he called.

“Uh, Keith? You’re going to have to let me in, my hands are full!” Came Lance’s borderline huffy reply, and a smirk immediately crossed Keith’s lips. “And don’t even think about leaving me out here unless you don’t want dinner, Mullet!”

Keith full-on laughed this time, tapping over to the door and unlocking it.

“How’d you guess?” He joked as Lance stepped in, balancing a tray in his hands and grinning as if his forehead wasn't suspiciously red.

“You’re as predictable as your hairstyle!” Snorted Lance, setting the tray on Keith’s table and turning a smile on the older boy. “Anyway, much as I’d love to stay and let you bask in my presence for a while, I’ve gotta go. Hunk and Shiro still have that nasty space flu, Pidge overworked herself again and had to be carried to her room, and Allura and Coran are asleep, so if you need anything, come find me in the infirmary, okay?”

Keith frowned, folding his arms and jerking his chin towards the tray on his table.

“Did Coran make that, then?”

Lance snorted, running a hand through his already messy hair and mustering a smile that never touched his eyes.

“Nah. Just because we’re rivals doesn’t mean I’m going to try and poison you, man. I made that. Already taste-tested, won’t kill you, blah blah blah,” he said easily, waving a hand and starting back for the door. “Anywho! I have patients to take care of, so I’m going to head out now.”

“You need any help?” Asked Keith, scrutinizing Lance’s mussed hair and dark bags. “You look ready to drop.”

“I’m good!” Replied Lance with a grin, hand coming up to the back of his neck and eyes gentle. “I like taking care of people.”

And with that, the door slid shut, and Lance’s footsteps clattered down the hall. Keith stared at the silver hinges skeptically, but turned back to his desk and transferred the bowl of soup into his lap. It was a thick orange broth, speckles of yellow and red _fruit/vegetable/alien-things-no-one-knew-what-to-call_ scattered about, and the heavy scent of spice hanging in the room. There was something comforting about it.

Keith practically downed the soup, savoring the mix of crunchy and smooth textures Lance had worked into it, eyes watering a little from the heat and a little from the blooming warmth in his chest. After all, he still remembered Lance’s wide grin when he showed Keith this family recipe.

Keith strode down the hall, hands shoved in his pockets, and poked his head into the infirmary just as Lance stood up and stretched, shoulders and back letting out a sharp _CRACK_ that made Keith wince.

“Lance,” he called softly, eyeing the sleeping forms of Hunk and Shiro on the infirmary beds, and the Red Paladin flashed him a weak smile.

“Hey Keith,” he replied, hurrying over to the door. “What’s up, bud?”

“How are they doing?” Asked Keith, gesturing to the limp figures, and a wave of relief crashed over him when Lance’s smile didn’t dim.

“Their fevers just broke, so I think we’re out of danger. I mean, I’m going to stay with them just in case, but they should be fine,” promised Lance, swaying slightly as he spoke.

“Great,” replied Keith, though he was definitely scowling. “Then go get some sleep; I can keep an eye on them.”

Lance nodded. Then he nodded again. And a third time.

Keith rolled his eyes, slinging one of Lance’s arms over his shoulder as he guided them both towards a nearby set of chairs. “I knew you were going to run yourself into the ground,” he grumbled, plopping down on one seat and pulling Lance into the one next to him. “This is exactly why you’re the Red Paladin, you know.” The taller boy muttered something that was probably about Keith being the first Red Paladin, but his words were slurred beyond comprehension, and Keith just rolled his eyes again. “Come on, dork.”

He pulled Lance against his shoulder, letting the taller boy go limp and running a hand through his hair, gently soothing him into the sleep he so desperately needed. Lance let out a little groan of relief, his whispered thank you not going unnoticed, but before Keith could even respond, Lance was out cold. Keith chuckled, shaking his head fondly, and turning his attention to the patients in front of him as Lance’s soup sat warm in his stomach. He knew someone who made him happy.

Keith found the tenth letter in the folds of his cropped jacket after team bonding, and he just snorted with laughter as he opened up the creased parchment.

_Dear Keith,  
So that when we visit the next wintery planet,  
You don’t have to wear your armor not to freeze,  
Check your other pocket for a little gift,  
Custom-made to please.  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend._

Keith couldn’t help snickering at the awkward attempt to rhyme, though that laughter died when he reached into the next pocket and pulled out a thick scarf wrapped around mittens and a hat. The wool was a soft, deep red, a single yellow star glowing on the hat and the backs of the mittens, and thin fringes dangling from the ends of the scarf. Keith felt like he was currently holding a fluffy ray of sunshine in his hands.

He asked Allura if they could head to a cold planet later that day, and the Altean’s wide smirk gave him the distinct feeling everyone on this ship knew who his friend was except him.

The twelfth letter nearly gave Keith a heart attack. He had stayed up late the night before, and somehow managed to sleep not only through the morning call to breakfast, but apparently through _Shiro and Pidge knocking impatiently on his door and calling him_. So when he finally woke up and saw the time, he rocketed out of bed and ripped his jacket from the door in a frantic dash from his room.

He tore into the kitchen, hair a dishevelled mess and jacket half on, panting and wide-eyed.

“Did I miss morning training?” He wheezed, studying the table as he rested his hands on his knees and tried to get a proper lungful of air.

“No,” teased Lance, a wide grin spreading across his lips, “though we were starting to wonder if your crimes against fashion had resulted in an early death.”

“You’d be the first to go with those face masks then,” shot back Keith automatically, all the adrenaline draining from his veins and leaving him slightly wobbly as he took his seat at the table. “Thanks for saving me some, Hunk.”

“Not a problem!” Replied Hunk, grinning and downing the last of his latest attempt to make alien juice.

Keith beamed as Lance squawked about his attacks on the Red Paladin’s face masks, and began to pop some of the seasoned plants into his mouth. Then Pidge tapped his arm, trying to show him this new long-distance training code for the gladiators that she and Hunk had come up with, and Keith turned just a little too quickly. His elbow smacked into the glass of nutrient water to his right, spewing the liquid over the table and into Lance’s lap.

“ _Keith_!” Complained Lance, scrambling for napkins; as Keith leaned over to help, a flash of white caught his eye.

And his heart stopped.

Next to his plate was a folded letter with a red ribbon.

Just like all the others he had received.

Except this one was drenched with sparkling water that would render the words illegible and make the thin parchment so easy to rip and why hadn’t he noticed it before when it had been _right there_ —

“Whoa, Keith, you okay?” Asked Lance as all the color drained from his teammate’s face. "I'm, uh, not really mad? Sorry if I was harsh...."

Then Keith vaulted out of his chair, seized a pile of napkins, and snatched the sopping paper from the table. Shiro and Allura’s faces turned to ash when they saw the dripping note, Hunk’s hands flew to his mouth, and Pidge’s half-strangled gasp barely registered as Keith scrubbed desperately at the letter. Dread burrowed a pit in his stomach as his brain spun, trying to grasp the fact that there was nothing he could do. No way to salvage this. He had destroyed something precious, and there was no way for him to get it back. This wasn’t something he could fix.

“Keith, you’re going to tear it!” Shrieked Pidge, springing from her chair and latching onto his arm to halt his rubbing. “Just calm down!”

“I can’t just do nothing!” Cried Keith, ignoring the stares of the entire table as he trapped the letter between two napkins and started scrubbing again. “I’ve got to try!”'

“Keith, give it to me.”

Keith’s head jerked up, and Lance’s steady, blue gaze halted the tremor in his hands. “My papá had a trick, worked on every book we spilled juice on. It might take a few hours, but you should be able to read that thing no problem.”

Lance held out his hand, smiling softly, and Keith gulped. Then, “Trust me.”

Keith did.

“See, what’d I tell you!” Cheered Lance as the team pulled the letter, lined with paper towels, from under the Altean dictionary Allura had pulled from the library. “Totally dry and legible!”

Keith nearly sagged with relief, turning the paper over in his hands and staring at the easily readable handwriting.

“Thank you, Lance,” he said, looking straight at the Red Paladin and hoping that, somehow, the weight of those words would come through.

Lance beamed, making a victory sign in response.

_Dear Keith,  
Thanks for being late today,  
I got to hide this one in a place that’s neat!  
Head on into the kitchen,  
To claim your special sweet!  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend_

Keith had no clue how this person had managed to find chocolate-covered strawberries in space, but he nearly started crying when the familiar taste filled his mouth. His dad used to make these for him on his birthday. They tasted like home.

Seemed fitting.

The thirteenth letter was lying in the commons room next to a glowing candle that switched colors every few minutes, and Keith would be lying if he said his heart didn’t skip a beat when he saw Lance walk in after him.

“Ooh, another one?” Teased the taller boy as Keith flicked the paper open, and Lance laughed at the glare his comment received. “Looks like someone’s got a secret admirer!”

Allura’s words echoed through Keith’s mind again, and color rushed to his cheeks. _They want to be the one to make you happy._

“Ha, I knew it!” Crowed Lance, plopping down next to Keith and beaming like the sun. “You _do_ like someone! Who is it? I can be a pretty good wingman, you know!”

“Pretty sure you’d just end up stealing someone’s crush,” retorted Keith, though the growing smile on his face didn’t really help him seem annoyed right then.

“Awwwwww, you think I can steal hearts~” Trilled Lance, dissolving into laughter when Keith smacked his arm. “Seriously though, just let me know if you want help. Only the best for our Captain Mullet!”

And then he was gone, springing from the couch and vanishing out the door with a wave and a bright grin. Keith wished he had the guts to tell Lance that _he_ was the best, that he was the only one Keith would ever choose. The only one who had reached out when Shiro was gone, when he felt like he was trapped in the borrowed guise of a leader, when his world was crumbling, and tethered him to reality. Lance had forced him to admit that he had the right to lead, had stood by him when he screwed up, and promised that they would fix this mess together. He had offered to step down when they got Shiro back, and when Keith tried to leave for the Blade of Marmora, Lance had been the one to scream out against the idea that they didn’t need him. Keith still remembered those words. _You can’t just leave, Mullet! We need you! Sure, if you want Shiro to be the Black Paladin, take back Red or help Allura with planning, or whatever! Just stay here! We want you with us, Keith! I don’t care who flies what! We’re a family! You’re part of our family, so don’t walk out on us. We all want you to stay._

Keith sighed, sinking back into the cushions and staring absently at the flickering flame. Lance had convinced him that he had a place here. That Voltron was his home. And he’d never once regretted staying. Pidge and Allura were his sisters, Hunk and Shiro were brothers, and Coran was that crazy space uncle no one could imagine living without. And Lance……Lance was everything. He was an endless ball of energy; he threw himself into whatever he was doing wholeheartedly and never looked back. He would fight any number of opponents until Voltron won, tend to his team until he collapsed, and tease Keith mercilessly into relaxation. Lance was everything Keith had never wanted to admit he loved.

_Dear Keith,  
Hope you like the candle,  
It should keep your room alight with its flame,  
And tomorrow, if you want,  
I’ll reveal my name._

Keith stared at the little poem, mouth opening and closing, and brain shorting out. Then he flipped the paper over with a ridiculously wide grin consuming his face.

_If you want to see me,  
I’ll be in the commons at three.  
But if, on your list, that should fall last,  
Just steer clear of the commons till half past.  
Signed,  
Your Secret Friend._

Keith took a long, deep breath, and carefully slid the letter into his pocket. Weak rhyme, the worst yet. But it sent his heart through the roof and out into space anyway.

He’d better be on time.

Right, Keith should have seen this coming. A fourteenth letter by his bedside when he first woke up, though it came without a poem or anything. The letter was a photograph of the team surrounding Keith for his nineteenth birthday a few months after they had first launched into space, the back decorated with messages of love from the team to their friend.

What he did not expect was to be told by Allura that morning that everyone had the day off from training.

“I believe that a majority of you will be so distracted, you might end up accidentally decapitating one another,” she commented, eyeing a very fidgety Hunk as she spoke.

Shiro blushed up to the tips of his ears, Lance spluttered weakly, and Pidge groaned about lovestruck fools before heading back to her lab.

“What’s today?” Asked Keith, glancing at his dishevelled teammates with something bordering on concern.

“Valentine’s Day, Keith!” Squealed Hunk, dashing for the kitchen as he spoke, and Shiro muttered something about a video call before hurrying out the back door.

Allura shook her head with a tinkling laugh.

“Honestly, I’ll never understand you humans. On Altea, we are expected to always demonstrate our love for one another. Why wait for a specific date to show someone you care?”

“No clue!” Replied Lance with a laugh, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I kind of just take it as an opportunity to do something even bigger, you know?”

Allura just laughed again and, with that knowing smile Keith had rapidly become used to in the last month, she slipped from the room. Keith felt like he might melt into mush at any second. _Why wait for a specific date to show someone you care?_ That was exactly what his secret friend hadn’t done. They had taken every opportunity in the last month, for no reason whatsoever, to leave little presents and reminders and letters to Keith showing him that he belonged here, that he was irreplaceable, that he was loved. They had done so much for him. And he would get to see them in a few vargas.

“Right, well, I’ve got some stuff to do, so I’ll see you later, Keith!” Called Lance quickly, darting from the room as if that would hide the deep blush spreading over his cheeks.

Well, that was actually fine right now. Keith also had some prep work to do.

Keith hadn’t gone more than two steps into the commons room when he realized that his secret friend was a massive troll. Because instead of a person waiting for him in the room, he was greeted by a giant screen hanging from the wall. Seriously?

Then the doors swished shut, the lights went out, and a camera lit up, projecting onto the screen. Keith stopped breathing. He knew that face, that sheepish, slightly scared, more than brave enough smile, and that gentle voice as he strummed the guitar just barely visible in his lap.

“If you’re feeling down or weak,  
You can always count on me.  
I will always pick you up.  
Nothing’s ever gonna change,  
Nothing’s gettin’ in my way,  
I will always hold you up,” sang Lance, eyes closed and fingers strumming the guitar expertly.

Keith was reminded vaguely of what Lance had told Allura earlier that morning, about how he just used Valentine’s Day as an excuse to do something bigger than normal.

“Anything,  
Come what may.  
Don’t look back, forget yesterday.  
Forget yesterday.”

Well, Lance had managed to set the bar high and then pole vault right over it.

“It’s not where you come from,  
It’s where you belong,” breathed Lance, opening his eyes then and locking them with Keith’s, smile gentle as if desperately hoping Keith knew that he meant _here, right here with Voltron_. “Nothin’ I would trade,  
I wouldn’t have it any other way.  
You’re surrounded,  
By love and you’re wanted.”

Keith choked up on those words, because even though Lance had been telling him that for a month now, he still wasn’t used to hearing that. And no, his vision was not blurry at all right then.

“So never feel alone.  
You are home with me,  
Right where you belong.”

Keith rubbed at his eyes because there was a lot of space dust in the room, and cleared his throat because he hadn’t had enough water that day, that was the only reason!

“I know sometimes you’re feeling lost,  
It’s hard to find your place in it all,  
But you don’t have to fear.  
Even when you mess up,  
You always got my love.  
I’m always right here.”

Keith laughed quietly; Lance had certainly proven that time and time again when he was first learning how to lead. He literally flew the team into a minefield, and Lance followed him to the edge of it, dragged him back, and stood beside him the entire time they had worked to fix the big mess. He had said it was their mess, not just Keith’s. He had been right there the whole time.

“Oh, ‘cause  
Anything,  
Come what may.  
Don’t look back, forget yesterday.  
Forget yesterday.”

Lance’s fingers slipped on the guitar and he bit his lip, sticking out his tongue in concentration, and drawing a laugh from Keith. He couldn’t blame the Red Paladin though, the Yuroliaks’ instrument wasn’t _exactly_ a guitar. But why would Lance choose to play a video where he had messed up instead of starting again?

“It’s not where you come from,  
It’s where you belong.  
Nothin’ I would trade,  
I wouldn’t have it any other way.  
You’re surrounded,  
By love and you’re wanted,  
So never feel alone.”

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, this wasn’t pre-recorded. This was live. And there was only one place Lance would film a live music video.

“You are home with me.  
Right where you belong.”

Keith dashed out the door, his own surprise tucked snugly in his pocket as he flew down the halls, a stupidly wide grin spreading across his face. He dodged around Pidge, who looked like she wanted to yell at him, but couldn’t quite manage with his huge smile, so she contented herself to shaking her head and, with a few keyboard clicks, broadcasting Lance’s song just along the corridor Keith was headed down. Happy Valentine’s Day, morons.

“Oooo Oooo, Oooo Oooo.  
Don’t matter where you’ve been.  
Oooo Oooo, Oooo Oooo.  
You’re here for a reason.  
Oooo Oooo Oooo,” sang Lance, smiling at the camera as his heart thundered through his ears.

Music was the food of love in his family. His father had proposed to his mother through song, and they had mourned his passing in a similar manner. Veronica had sang her vows at her wedding, and Marco asked out his girlfriend through an original ditty he had spent weeks coming up with. There was no other way he could possibly think of to ask Keith out than with a song.

“It’s not where you come from,  
It’s where you belong.”

The door slammed open, and Lance nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning to gape at the gasping boy leaning against the doorway. Then Lance grinned.

“Nothin’ I would trade,  
I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he sang, smiling smugly as Keith’s cheeks flushed a vibrant pink.

Hey, the least Keith deserved was a full song, after all.

“You’re surrounded,  
By love and you’re wanted.  
So never feel alone.  
You are home with me.  
Right where you belong.”

Keith gulped weakly, because how was he seriously expected to handle Lance staring at him with that overflowing smile and shining eyes and cute tilt to his head—

“For you!” He squawked, hurling the tiny, limp blue teddy bear into Lance’s face.

Well, he really wanted to go jump into the Altean swimming pool right now. “You gave me Ruby so, here! Sapphire! For you!” He sputtered, and he was absolutely just making things worse now and Lance was going to start to wonder why he liked Keith again and oh _gods Lance liked Keith holy quiznak—_

Lance threw back his head and burst out laughing. He set the guitar down gently, scooped up Sapphire into his hands, and placed a kiss on the stuffed bear’s forehead.

“Thanks, Keith,” he said, giggles bouncing around his words. “She’s great.”

“And! Um!” Alright, next time he did this, Keith was using a letter format like Lance. “What you said in the song. You’ve always had my love too. Come what may. I want to be the place that makes you feel like you belong. You know?”

Lance’s next breath came with a slight hitch, closer to a gasp than anything else, and he sat perfectly still.

Then his eyes filled with crystal tears and he launched himself at Keith in a twirling hug overflowing with laughter.

“So, we’re boyfriends then?” He asked as Keith’s arms wrapped around his back.

Keith felt like his heart was going to detonate while still inside his chest, but he rested his chin on Lance’s shoulder and let out a deep, contented sigh.

“Boyfriends.”

Lance giggled, and Keith turned bright red, but that was okay. Red was a color he and Lance shared in more ways than one, after all.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mullet.”

“HAPPY FOR ALL OF US YOU MEAN! EVERYONE, THE PINING IS FINALLY OVER!”

“ _HUNK!_ ”

“OH YEAH, KLANCE IS CANON KING!”

“What does that even mean?”

“IT MEANS SHIRO OWES ME FIVE DOLLARS, PAY UP!”

“YOU GUYS COULDN’T WAIT ONE MORE DAY?!”

“EXCUSE ME, I’M BI!”

“I SAID GUYS, NOT GAYS!”

“Hey, Lance?”

“Yes, Starlight?”

“MUSH!”

“SHUT!”

Keith laughed then, loud and happy, throwing his arms around Lance’s neck and pulling his boyfriend—wow—in for a kiss. Because he could do that now. He could show Lance how much he loved him, just like Lance had been doing for him for so long now. He had forever to catch up to Lance though, and he would use every day of it.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Sunshine.”

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!!
> 
> Season 8 of Magnetic In Our Purple will be finished, hopefully before summer! In the meantime, this is a Valentine's Day piece I wrote over a year ago. I published it now as a love letter to my partner who has been trapped in a different state than me due to the coronavirus spread. Just a reminder to cherish the chance to be with the one you love!
> 
> My tumblr is at https://asagaosylph.tumblr.com/ :D


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